NINE police officers filmed making racist comments at a police training centre in Warrington will not face criminal prosecution, the Daily Post can reveal.

The officers, including one from Cheshire, one from North Wales and seven from the Greater Manchester force, were implicated in an undercover TV investigation.

North Wales officer Rob Pulling, 23, was even filmed wearing a Ku Klux Klan-style hood and praising the murderers of black London teenager Stephen Lawrence.

But a force insider last night revealed the Crown Prosecution Service had advised taking no action against the 23-year-old from Llandudno or the other eight officers who were forced to quit their jobs after the Secret Policeman documentary. They included PC Steve Salkeld, from the Cheshire force, who was suspended following the documentary but later stepped down.

At the time, David Griffin, assistant Chief Constable of Cheshire Police, told the Daily Post: "I felt ashamed. I can't imagine what people from ethnic minorities watching it felt. I felt sad, angry and disappointed."

The programme, screened last October, showed recruits at the Bruche National Training Centre in Warrington, filmed by undercover reporter Mark Daly who posed as a new recruit.

Following a report by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), the CPS is believed to have decided there is no chance of a conviction against any of the officers involved.

It is thought the CPS decided there was little chance of securing a conviction for inciting racial hatred as the comments were made in private.

It is also understood the way in which the evidence was gathered would not be admissible in court.

Officers identified in the documentary who remained in their jobs are likely to face disciplinary action.

Two North Wales officers were identified in the programme. Pulling resigned immediately but PC Keith Cheshire, from Wrexham, remains suspended.

A North Wales Police spokeswoman said last night: "North Wales Police are awaiting written advice from the CPS regarding the question of criminal proceedings concerning The Secret Policeman programme.

"The CPS have advised, however, that PC Cheshire should not face criminal charges and disciplinary proceedings are now being prepared by the force."

However, sources have made it clear Pulling and the others will not face criminal charges either.

PCA spokesman Mike Delaney said: "If they decided not to prosecute, it is usually to do with levels of proof."

The Daily Post revealed on Saturday that the future of the Bruche training centre is in doubt because many of the forces that use it are planning to teach their own recruits in-house.